Seat belts on both the driver and passenger sides have been installed in vehicles for many years in an attempt to reduce deaths and serious injuries resulting from collisions. More recently, airbag restraints have been installed in vehicles to provide an additional measure of safety. The typical airbag restraint is positioned in the steering wheel well to protect the driver and in a recess in the vehicle dashboard to protect the passenger. More recently, side airbags have been employed in driver and passenger doors to guard the occupants from side collisions.
The inflatable airbag restraint houses an inflator and an inflatable occupant restraint cushion which is normally stored in a folded condition. The steering wheel well or the vehicle dashboard includes an opening which is aligned with the stored airbag restraint cushion. Upon the vehicle experiencing a predetermined rate of deceleration, an inflator is actuated to force high pressure gas into the cushion for deployment through the opening in front of the driver or the passenger.
In order to safeguard adult passengers and to provide sufficient inflation upon rapid vehicular deceleration, high pressure gas propels the airbag out of the steering wheel well or the dashboard at speeds of up to approximately 200 miles per hour. Although high speed inflation is necessary to guard against driver or passenger impact with the steering wheel, dashboard, windshield or door, the force of the nearly instantly pressurized airbag, upon deployment, can result in a fatal blow to a vehicle occupant if the airbag impacts the occupant with undue force or at an undesirable angle.
Of particular concern with respect to impact from inflating airbags are small children riding in the front seat of cars. In order to safeguard a standard size adult passenger, the airbag restraint system is designed to propel the cushion from its stored position at a relatively low angle so that the cushion is properly positioned under the passenger in order to absorb the bodily impact. Due to the relatively low position of a child's head while seated, a small child facing forward in the front seat, either secured by a seat belt or by a child car seat, may suffer severe head and neck injuries caused by impact from the highly pressurized inflating airbag as it expands outwardly at this relatively low angle of trajectory. Additionally, a small child placed in a rearwardly facing child car seat may be forced head first into the backrest of the front seat of an automobile by any force, including an impact by the inflating airbag, acting against the rear of the child car seat.
Thus, while such airbag restraints fully meet the industry standards to protect most adult users, a simple and inexpensive device is needed to protect a child in the front seat of a vehicle in the event of rapid deceleration, by minimizing the potential direct or indirect facial impact of a highly pressurized inflating airbag.